Mitsubishi has spent this teaser campaign showing you the Pajero’s face. Now it’s showing you its skeleton — and the skeleton is the whole point.
The latest preview slides underneath the reborn full-size SUV to confirm what enthusiasts have wanted to hear since the nameplate went dark: this is a proper body-on-frame off-roader, not a soft crossover wearing a legendary badge. The ladder frame is lifted straight from the Triton, the pickup sold in some markets as the L200 and already sturdy enough to underpin the Nissan Navara. In other words, the new Pajero — sold as the Montero in certain regions — is effectively the Triton’s SUV sibling.
Truck bones, family manners
Riding on that frame will be what Mitsubishi calls Super-All Wheel Control, or S-AWC, a full-time four-wheel-drive system with torque vectoring that shuffles power front to rear for grip and stability. If the Triton’s hardware carries over as expected, drivers should get the pickup’s selectable modes — 2H for rear drive, 4H, 4HLc with a locked center differential, and 4LLc for low range — along with its seven terrain settings spanning Normal, Eco, Gravel, Snow, Mud, Sand, and Rock.
The difference from the workhorse Triton comes above the frame. With an enclosed body and a more family-oriented brief, the Pajero is expected to bring a nicer cabin and better materials. It’s also reviving a genuine fan favorite: the multi-info gauge pod, reimagined here as a dedicated off-road screen showing pitch and roll angles, altitude, compass heading, and left-to-right torque distribution.
One name, a whole family
This isn’t a one-off nostalgia play. Mitsubishi has bigger plans, with the flagship model set to be followed by smaller derivatives in the coming years — a full off-road lineup rather than a single hero car. The range-topper leads the charge, breaking cover this fall, with Japanese reports pointing to a September 2 debut.
The rollout won’t be evenly paced everywhere, though. North America is expected to get the go-anywhere SUV, but reportedly not until around 2030 — a curious delay for a market that adores rugged body-on-frame machines, and arguably a missed opportunity given how much ground there is to claim.
What’s clear is that this Pajero aims to be a Mitsubishi through and through. That matters after the Eclipse name was recycled onto electric crossovers that aren’t really Mitsubishis under the skin — Europe’s Eclipse Cross borrows the Renault Scenic E-Tech, while North America’s Eclipse Sportback is a Nissan Leaf beneath its bodywork.
The stakes are high for a brand that has been struggling. The Pajero badge has been dormant since the fourth generation retired in 2021, and its predecessors sold a cumulative three million units since the original arrived in 1982. Positioned as a rival to the Land Cruiser and Patrol, the reborn model has a legacy to honor and, for once, the hardware to back it up. The engine roars back to life on September 2.
